Fox in Tokyo
by triforcemeralds
Summary: The Valley of the End was the site of a great battle, in both the past and the present. Naruto and Sasuke fought their hardest, leaving Naruto practically dead. The Kyuubi, however, is not ready to die. His desperate healing had the unfortunate side effect of sending Naruto to Tokyo. How will this change affect the future of Earth?
1. Prologue: Valley of the End

**Hello y'all. I was looking for a story for this crossover and was slightly disappointed at the lack of stories. What better way than to add your own?**

**I don't own Naruto or Tokyo Mew Mew.**

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke stood at opposite sides of the Valley of the End. Naruto was wrapped in a cloak of red chakra with a single tail waving behind him. His nails had lengthened into claws and his canines poked out from under his lips. His slitted red eyes took in the grotesque form of his friend and brother.

Sasuke's nails had lengthened as well, though not as much as Naruto's. His skin was a sick grayish-blue marred only by a black cross in the middle of his face. His hair had turned blue and lengthened until it almost touched the place where wings that looked like duck feet had sprouted. His Sharingan eyes glared at his friend from within the black abyss his eyes had become. Sasuke flinched in pain suddenly as he felt the transformation begin to consume him. He silently observed Naruto subconsciously grab his arm in pain as well.

"It seems we've both reached our limit," Sasuke observed gaining Naruto's attention. "We both have enough for only one last attack, what do you say."

They both grinned at each other as they charged their signature attacks. Sasuke closed his eyes and grunted in exertion as he formed the chidori in his left hand. Naruto held his right hand up and created a rasengan with only one hand for the first time. Any pride in this accomplishment was quickly swept away in light of his current predicament. Naruto watched as the kyuubi's chakra swirled with his rasengan, giving it an ominous red glow. Sasuke's eyes snapped open as his chidori turned black from the chakra of the curse seal. Both boys leapt at each other at the exact same time.

'**You baka!**' the fox yelled at his container. '**You'll never win a direct confrontation!**'

'Shut up baka fox,' Naruto yelled in frustration. Deep inside he knew it was true. 'It's that damn curse mark!' Naruto thought in frustration. Suddenly his eyes widened as he thought of an idea to save his friend.

"NARUTOOOO!"

"SASUKEEEE!"

The opposing chakra's collided with a resounding crash. The flying energies created a sphere of blinding white chakra around the two as they met in mid-air. Sasuke drove his chidori forward with blinding speed, shoving it straight through Naruto's heart. Naruto only gasped in pain before smiling and driving the rasengan at the mark on Sasuke's neck. Sasuke screamed in pain as the mark began to dissolve under the rasengan's power, the malevolent chakra being caught in the jutsu and thrown to the wind from the intense spinning. Naruto smiled at his work before beginning to slip into death.

'**KUSO! I WILL NOT DIE HERE!**' the Kyuubi raged as he let loose with more chakra than Naruto knew was possible. Naruto winced as he felt himself being forcefully healed and brought back to life under the Kyuubi's influence. Unfortunately, the power released was too much for the dimension to hold causing a rift to appear. Naruto was swept into the rift before it closed behind him. The last thing he saw before passing out was a sprawling city below him.

* * *

"Hurry Kakashi," Pakkun said as he leapt through the trees, "We're getting closer."

'Naruto, Sasuke, just wait a little longer,' Kakashi thought as he saw the tree line coming to a close. Kakashi leapt from the trees to a stunning waterfall with two statues on either side. He looked down only to see the site of a truly massive battle.

'They didn't hold anything back, did they,' he thought his eyes sweeping the battlefield for any signs of life. His single eye landed on a figure sprawled on the ground at the water's edge. He jumped off and ran down the cliff's edge to find Sasuke passed out. He scanned his student's body for any injuries. His single eye widened when he saw the missing chunk of flesh where the curse mark was. Lifting his headband and revealing his Sharingan he searched Sasuke for the malevolent chakra of the curse mark. There was no trace of it. He tore his eyes from his student and searched for his other pupil. His Sharingan eye picked up on a frightening sight. A miasma of the Kyuubi's chakra was floating in one single point.

"Pakkun!" Kakashi ordered his summons, "Pick up Naruto's trail at once!"

Pakkun leapt to work sniffing at the ground to pick up Naruto's scent. Kakashi watched with bated breath as Pakkun stepped closer to the Kyuubi's chakra.

"The trail abruptly ends here," Pakkun stated as he searched for any other trail. Kakashi's eyes widened at the implications. "The smell of blood is heavy in this spot too."

Kakashi just closed his eyes and lowered his headband in sadness. 'I'm sorry sensei,' he thought as tears escaped his lone eye and trailed down his face. 'I wasn't able to protect your son after all.' He grabbed Sasuke and leapt for the village with Pakkun in tow to give the bad news. 'Tsunade is not going to be happy.'

* * *

Ichigo and her friends were walking back to the café after the exhausting affair known only as the media.

"You'd think they would run out of questions after a while," Ichigo complained as she hung her head in exhaustion.

"That was only the tip of the ice-berg," Zakuro replied calmly.

All the girls hung their heads at that pronouncement.

"Well, at least we found the final mew mew," Pudding replied happily as she bounced around the group.

"I know isn't it great," Mint squealed uncharacteristically as she glanced at her idol.

"All the mews are finally together!" Ichigo cheered. "I don't think anything could possibly bring us down now."

Immediately when she said those words a flash of red exploded in the sky above them.

"You just HAD to say it didn't you," Mint grumbled as they watched the light grow brighter.

"Ichigo!" Keiichiro's voice called out from her pendant.

"Is this important?" Ichigo questioned as she watched the light warily.

"There seems to be a giant influx of an unknown energy originating about five-hundred kilometers above the city. Apparently, it's the source of that unnatural light. You need to get down there and investigate. Ryou and I will be there shortly."

"Understood," Ichigo said. "Alright girls let's go!"

"Mew Mew Mint, METAMORPHO-SIS."

"Mew Mew Lettuce, METAMORPHO-SIS."

"Mew Mew Pudding, METAMORPHO-SIS."

"Mew Mew Zakuro, METAMORPHO-SIS."

"Mew Mew Ichigo, METAMORPHO-SIS."

With a flash of light emanating from their pendants each girl transformed into their respective forms.

"For the Earth's future, I'll be of service. Nyan!" Ichigo yelled her catch phrase before they all dashed off to the center of town. They arrived just as Ryou and Keiichiro drove up in their convertible.

"According to the scanner, the center of this reaction should be right above us," Keiichiro said as he directed everyone's gazes upward. Then, just as suddenly as the sky lit up, the red vanished from the sky leaving it bright blue once more. All of them just stared in surprise at the phenomena's abrupt end before giving Keiichiro curious looks.

"I don't get it," Ryou said. "It just disappeared."

"I wonder what it was?" Ichigo said directing her eyes skyward once more. She quickly rubbed her eyes before staring once more.

"Something wrong Ichigo-nee-san," Lettuce asked her friend.

"Umm, someone's falling from the sky," was the weak reply.

Everyone else snapped their gazes upward at her words and spotted the speck falling from the sky like she did. The first to snap out of her daze was Zakuro.

"Quickly, someone catch him," she barked out as she rushed forwards.

Ichigo started before leaping up and catching the figure before he made impact with the pavement. Ichigo gently set the boy down as the rest of the group rushed forwards. They all took in his appearance with a grimace. The boy had unruly blond hair that spiked in every direction. He wore an unbelievably tacky orange jumpsuit that practically screamed 'Here I am, notice me!' he had three thick whisker marks on his cheeks and sharp canines that poked out from under his lips. His skin was slightly tanned and his fingernails were sharpened to look like claws. He was covered in blood from a wound to his chest and he had lacerations covering the rest of his body. They all watched stunned as his canines receded along with his claws. The whisker marks also became lighter but never truly disappeared.

"Uh, Keiichiro, Ryou? Is there a reason this boy looks like he could be a mew mew?" Ichigo asked while pointing to the whisker marks.

"I don't know but we should bring him back to the café quickly so he can receive medical attention," Ryou said. He picked the boy up and laid him in the car before speeding away with Keiichiro.

All of the girls de-transformed and made their way to the café with one question in mind. Just who the hell was that boy?

* * *

**Read and review  
**


	2. Chapter 1: Awakening

**A/****N Hello again. The first day after I posted this story was kind of surreal. I posted it late at night before I went to bed and thought nothing of it. Woke up the next day, went to college and when the day was over I got ready to go home and checked my e-mail. It was flooded with messages of people favoriting/following this story. It was kinda refreshing to be rewarded for all my work.**

**Special thanks to ddcj1990, Kagami Kamiya, and Vandenbz for reviewing. It made my day.  
**

**I used a couple of Japanese terms last chapter and forgot to put translations at the end of the chapter. oops. -_-' They'll all be here at the end of this one.  
**

**This chapter still isn't that long yet. I promise they will increase in length once all the setup for the story is complete.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Tokyo Mew Mew.**

* * *

Back at the café, the girls were sitting at a table after they finished serving their last customer.

"I'm beat," Mint sighed as she finished off her tea.

"YOU'RE BEAT!" Ichigo raged with a vein throbbing on her head. "You didn't do anything but sit there sipping tea and idolizing Zakuro!"

"Hey, it's not easy being sophisticated," Mint replied haughtily.

"Calm down guys," Lettuce said shyly, trying to stop her friends from fighting.

"What do you think of that boy we found a week ago?" Pudding asked.

"I don't like him," Mint replied hotly. "He just appeared in the sky like every other alien we've faced."

"He doesn't look like an alien though," Lettuce murmured.

"I know what he is," Pudding said as a detective's coat magically appeared along with a hat and blowpipe.

"YOU DO!?" all the girls except Zakuro cried in disbelief.

"First off is this mysterious boy's appearance," Pudding said as she pulled down a complex diagram. "His outlandish clothes and freakish appearance lead me to only one conclusion."

All the girls minus Zakuro leaned in closer as they waited for Pudding's verdict.

"It is obvious to me that this boy is none other than," here she paused for dramatic effect. "A NINJA FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION!"

The rest of the girls either face-faulted or let loose with a sweat drop at that announcement.

"Come on Pudding stop making up these stories," Ichigo mumbled from her spot on the floor.

"Since when have I ever told stories!" Pudding whined.

"Uh, all the time," Mint replied.

Pudding's body just dropped in depression at that statement.

"Well, whatever he is, it's no reason to drop our guard," Zakuro stated calmly as she stood up. "We should continue to do our job and let Ryou and Keiichiro do theirs."

"Yes onee-san/sama!" they all replied before leaving for home.

* * *

"It doesn't make sense," Keiichiro said.

"What is it?" Ryou asked.

"He's completely healed," Keiichiro spoke in awe.

"What do you mean completely healed?"

"I mean that there's absolutely no evidence that he was even hurt in the first place. He doesn't even have any scars."

"None at all!?" Ryou asked in complete shock.

"On top of that, I ran some scans of his DNA and found something peculiar. He has light traces of fox DNA mixed in his strands."

"Do you know what species?" Ryou asked after a moment of shocked silence.

"No, it doesn't match any species we have documented."

"An extinct animal maybe," Ryou thought out loud.

"Whatever species it is matters little. Apparently, those whisker marks on his skin are a direct result of this DNA. If you feel the marks they are actually softer than the surrounding skin. He also possesses a set of canines that are much sharper than they should be."

"Not even Ichigo shows this much of a bond with her animal side..."

"But what's truly strange about this DNA is that it's flowing around his human DNA completely separate from his own."

"How can you possess two different DNA strands!?" Ryou asked as he was thrown for a loop once more.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that it all flows from a single point on his stomach. This point is the only place where the DNA is merged together. It also shows signs of combining further given enough time. The only physical evidence of this was a strange mark that seemed to have the kanji for Shinigami surrounded by a complex set of symbols. This also appears to be the source of that red flash that preceded his arrival."

"Do you know whether or not he works for the Cyniclons?" Ryou asked with a long sigh as he processed this information.

"If he does, then Earth is doomed," Keiichiro spoke without hesitation.

"WHAT!?" Ryou asked, shocked at his friends conclusion.

"This boy is constantly emitting an unbelievable amount of energy and storing it his body in something similar to a circulatory system. The amount of energy stored within him is enough to wipe out all of the electrical systems in Tokyo and cause a city-wide blackout."

Ryou paled at that sentence.

"Fortunately, there seems to be limiters spread throughout the system to keep his body from overloading."

Ryou closed his eyes in deep concentration, trying to think of any way to salvage this situation. 'This is bad. If the boy is working for the Cyniclons, we can't let him out of here.' He nodded and turned to leave. "Lock the boy in a cell below the café. We can't allow him to escape if he's working for the Cyniclons, no matter the cost."

Keiichiro watched Ryou walk up the stairs in silence. While he didn't necessarily agree with his friend he understood the necessity of his actions. With a sigh he turned to the boy and wheeled his bed into one of the containment rooms.

* * *

Ichigo was happily skipping down the lane to her house, humming a cheery tune as she daydreamed.

_Flashback_

"You know, I think I'm gonna do my science fair project on this old sakura tree and why it's blooming so early," Mayasa told her after he stared at the tree for a while.

"Really? That's great!" Ichigo told her crush.

"In fact, I was hoping you would be my partner," He said while giving her a smile that made her knees weak.

_Flashback end_

Ichigo squealed as she took those words and imagined them in a very different context. Her excitement was rather short lived as those damnable ears of hers decided to make an appearance. She quickly reached up to shelter the offending appendages from view. She floated on in pure bliss up to the front of her house and absently opened the door.

"Hi honey," her mother called. "How was your day?"

"Completely perfect," Ichigo sighed in bliss as she sat down at the table.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Aoyama-kun would it?" Her mother said, giggling at her daughter's expression.

Ichigo just sighed lost in her own world. Her mother shook her head and smiled at her daughter.

* * *

"Aahhh!" Ichigo yelled in pain as the chimera anima launched her across the park. She landed with a heavy thud and grunted in pain. She stood up and prepared to continue the fight when she heard a voice.

"Ichigo."

'Aoyama-kun!?' Ichigo thought in panic as she turned to find her crush staring at her.

"Is this really what you are?" Masaya questioned coldly.

"A-Aoyama-kun, I can explain-" Ichigo started.

"There's nothing to explain," Masaya said turning around to face away from her. Ichigo felt her heart shatter as he observed her with cold eyes. "After all, who could possibly love a freak like you."

Ichigo's heart cracked as she watched her crush walk away from her. She slumped to her knees and stared at his retreating form.

"No," she whispered in despair. "AOYAMA-KUN!"

Ichigo shot up in bed breathing heavily and glancing around in panic. When she realized she was still in bed, she lowered her head and choked out a sob. The dream felt so real. She really thought that her time with Aoyama-kun was over. She looked at the picture by her bedside and traced a finger over Aoyama-kun's figure.

'If he finds out I'm Mew Ichigo, will he hate me?' she thought, desperately wishing she had an answer.

* * *

"**Wake up gaki!**"

Naruto groaned as he tried to continue his sleep.

"**I said WAKE UP!**"

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he felt the pressure of the roar buffet him like a raging hurricane.

"**About time gaki,**"

Naruto's eyes snapped up to see the grinning face of the nine-tailed fox leering down at him.

"Aw hell, I thought that when I died I could finally gain some peace!" Naruto yelled in frustration.

"**SILENCE!**"

Naruto was thrown backwards as the Kyuubi released chakra through the air with a mighty roar. He slowly stood up and glared at the fox.

"**Now that I have your attention, let me tell you what's happened. You are still alive.**"

"But how?" Naruto asked in confusion. "I felt my heart collapse when Sasuke's chidori plunged into my chest."

"**It did collapse, but I was not ready to die yet. I still must break free of this miserable prison.** **You see, our souls are joined together because of the sealing that bastard, the Yondaime, used to bind us.** **In short, if you die, I die.**"

Naruto just glared at the fox waiting for him to continue.

"**However,**" the Kyuubi stated swinging its gaze onto Naruto, "**in order to heal the massive amount of injuries you sustained I was forced to release too much chakra at once. This resulted in a dimensional tear because there was too much power in one specific location.**"

"What the hell does that mean fuzzball!?"

"**We have been sent to another dimension.**"

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what this meant. Konoha and all his friends were gone, with no way to go home. He sunk to his knees as his eyes began to unfocus.

"**As much as I love to see you suffer, your presence is no longer needed. Begone!**"

Naruto was forced from his dark mindscape and out to the light of a new world.

Naruto's first impression when he woke up was it is bright. His eyes snapped shut against the blinding glare as it pounded into his returning vision giving him a major headache. He opened his eyes once more, slowly and with great caution so as to avoid another headache. He swept his eyes around his surroundings trying to figure out where he was at the moment. He took in the small room he appeared to be kept in. It wasn't unpleasant−indeed it seemed to have all the comforts one might expect−however, it was obviously designed to keep people in and not let them out.

'Well then,' Naruto thought his eyes hardening as he summoned a single clone, 'first order of business is to bust out of this place.'

* * *

"You'll have to do better than that koneko-chan!" Kisshu taunted as he threw another energy orb at Ichigo. She flipped away just in time before it exploded with a resounding bang.

"Mew Mew Power Extension!"

Four pillars of colored light exploded from different points around the city. Ichigo watched in despair as the sky was lit with a brilliant array of colors.

"Ichigo! What are you doing! You need to destroy your tree now before it's too late."

Ichigo shook her head to clear her mind when she heard Ryou's voice exploding from her pendant. Grinning she reached out for her weapon, Strawberry Bell.

"Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

Kisshu screamed in pain as he was buffeted by the energy released from Ichigo's attack.

"Mew Mew Power Extension!"

Ichigo's pink aura lit up the sky and joined her comrades' efforts. In a few seconds, all the trees were destroyed getting rid of the harmful toxin that was about to be spread.

Ichigo landed on her feet beside the tree and panted in exertion. Her breathing completely stopped and her blood ran cold as she heard a single word breathed behind her.

"Ichigo."

She whirled around in terror to find one of her worst fears revealed. There stood Aoyama-kun, staring at her with eyes that pierced her very soul. Reacting instinctively, she whirled around and jumped off into the night before he could confirm his thoughts.

"Good job girls, return to the café and I'll prepare some cakes to celebr-"

Ichigo barely registered the fact that Keiichiro's voice died off.

"Girls! Get back here now!" Ryou commanded.

"What is it Shirogane-san?" Lettuce questioned.

"The boy we found the other day is escaping. He cannot be allowed to be loose where the Cyniclons may find him. Get back here immediately and help us detain-"

"That was a bad idea on your part," an unknown voice said.

"Gaah!"

The pendant fell silent. By now all the girls were traveling together.

"Shirogane-san! What's happening?!" Mint asked. Silence was her only answer.

"Come, we must hurry," Zakuro said speeding up.

"Right!" they all replied before joining Zakuro in her mad dash for the café.

* * *

Naruto grinned as he felt his signature technique come to life in his hand. He dispersed the clone before turning to the door that blocked his way to freedom.

"Rasengan!"

With a mighty yell he plunged the technique straight into the doorknob, grinding all the tumblers into non-existence. He immediately charged through the door and was met by a sight he could only believe belonged to some futuristic reality. He spotted a figure charging for his position from among the many devices in the room. Darting around a clump of wires and assorted junk he leaped up and clung to the ceiling with his chakra. The person rounded the corner before skidding to a halt looking for any sign of the escapee. He looked about 30 years old if his young appearance was anything to go by. He wore a white shirt with two vertical stripes on either side of the buttons holding it together. He wore black pants and a pair of black dress shoes. He had brown eyes and brown hair that was combed to perfection. All of these details were taken in by Naruto in less than a second. He dropped on the man and chopped a pressure point on his neck causing him to crumble. His heightened sense of hearing caught on to a conversation being held in front of a large…, picture maybe?

"The boy we found is escaping!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed as that phrase reached his ears. Dashing for the source, he silently made his way behind the person speaking.

"That was a bad idea on your part," Naruto muttered to the man as he felled him just like his partner.

"Shirogane-san! What's happening?!" a female's voice rang out from directly behind him. Acting on pure instinct he whirled while throwing a kunai at the source. It impacted in the center of a strange looking circle that was on the front of a rectangular box. Ignoring the strange phenomena, Naruto's eyes darted about for a way out.

'There!' he thought as his eyes landed on a staircase leading up. He quickly dashed up the staircase and rushed through the weird looking kitchen he ended up running through. He wrenched open the back door and leapt out into the cool night air. He immediately made a run for the familiar signs of a forest.

"Ribbon Zakuro Spear!"

Or so he thought before a purple beam completely decimated the branch he was about to land on. Redirecting his body weight, he twisted and landed on the trunk sticking to it with chakra.

"Ribbon Mint Echo!"

Naruto scowled as he jumped once more. He watched as a bolt of pink energy sliced through the trunk like a knife through butter.

'Just what the hell is going on?!' he thought in frustration as he was needlessly attacked by an unknown assailant once more.

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!"

'Kuso! it never ends,' he thought as he summoned a clone chain that managed to throw him out of the way before it was slammed by what appeared to be water bullets.

"Ribbon Pudding Ring Inferno!"

He summoned a multitude of clones to protect him from the incoming attack before leaping into the trees under the cover of smoke. He watched as all his clones became encased in a mound of gelatinous goo.

"Now Ichigo,"

"Hai! Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

Naruto watched wide-eyed as all his clones were obliterated in a brilliant flash of light. He quickly pulled out his camo sheet and slipped behind it to observe who or what attacked him.

"Where'd he go? He just disappeared in a puff of smoke!"

Naruto observed each one of the girls that walked into the clearing. The first girl was his age, had pink hair the exact same shade as Sakura, and a matching strapless blouse and short skirt the same color as her hair. She had what appeared to be a black cat tail sprouting from under her skirt with a bell attached to the end. She had a pair of black cat ears to match the tail and a pink heart shaped bell in her right hand.

'Obviously the leader,' he observed as he watched her walk in front of the rest of the group.

"I don't know. He was here a minute ago."

The next girl was also his age and dressed in a green outfit that hugged her figure closely. She had light green−almost yellow−hair with a pair of, antenna?, sprouting from her hair. She held two shells in her hands that clacked slightly as she walked.

"I thought that my Pudding Ring Inferno worked for sure!" a petulant voice called out. The owner was a girl about konohamaru's age with light blonde hair. She wore a small yellow dress that went down to mid thigh. She had a monkey's tail and ears that, strangely enough, reminded him of Sandaime-jiji. She held a golden tambourine at her side as she whined about her failure.

"Where do you think he went onee-sama?"

The next was yet another girl around his age with dark blue hair. She wore a blue dress that looked exactly like the elementary kids dress. She had a pair of dark blue wings sprouting from her back and a bird's tail further down. She held some sort of heart statue in her hand.

"He can't have gone too far."

The last was obviously the oldest of the bunch with bright purple hair of all things. She also wore the most revealing clothing of the group with a purple two piece outfit. She had a gray bushy tail behind her that he assumed was a wolf's tail and a pair of gray ears that confirmed his suspicion. All the girls wore some sort of boots and identical pendants around their necks.

'Should I lay low, or should I talk to them,' Naruto pondered before grinning. 'Since when have I ever backed down from a challenge!' He threw off his camo-sheet and leapt down into the clearing on the other side of the girls. All of them tensed at his sudden arrival and prepared themselves to attack.

"Why the hell are you all attacking me?!" Naruto yelled brazenly as he brandished a kunai.

"We don't want to fight you, but we will if you don't come back to the café where it's safe," antenna girl said.

"And why should I go back to the place I was held captive seconds before?! I like my freedom."

"Earth is in grave danger if you don't," was wolf girl's calm reply.

"What the hell does that mean?!"

"The Cyniclons cannot be allowed to have an advantage like you on their side."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he spotted the guy he knocked out earlier striding up behind the girls.

"Shirogane-san! Are you alright?" cat girl asked.

Naruto allowed himself an opportunity to observe the man before him. He had blond hair the exact same shade as his own. He wore a black west and white pants. He had blue eyes a few shades lighter than his own. Something about the man just seemed to rub him the wrong way. Maybe it was that condescending look he wore?

"You still haven't answered my question," Naruto said.

"Our planet is in grave danger from an alien race known as the Cyniclons. Our research indicates that these creatures once lived on this planet years ago. Ruins have been found that suggest quite the advanced civilization. However, for some reason they had to leave Earth. Lately, they have returned to Earth seeking a home. They seek to destroy all humans and take the planet for themselves."

Poor Naruto could see a chibi version of himself starting to become swirly eyed from information overload.

"Your body is full of an unknown energy source, more powerful than anything we have ever encountered. If the Cyniclons were allowed to harness the energy inside you, Earth would be doomed."

"Is that so?"

Naruto snapped his eyes up to one of the strangest things he'd ever seen. There, floating in the air, was a boy with pointed ears and yellow slitted eyes that reminded him of Orochimaru. He wore baggy shorts and a shirt that exposed his midriff. He had brown hair with two braids hinging down on either side of his face. He was smirking down at the group exposing pointed canines.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" Naruto questioned.

"Kisshu! What are you doing here!" Cat girl demanded as if floating boys with pointed ears and slitted yellow eyes was a daily occurrence.

"You wound me knoeko-chan," the boy taunted holding his arms up like he was faint, "I was just on my way to see you when I overheard a particularly interesting conversation taking place. Something about this boy harnessing an unbelievable amount of power?"

"Hello! I'm asking you a question teme!"

"Damn it!" Ryou yelled.

"WILL YOU ALL STOP IGNORING ME!"

All eyes were drawn to a fuming Naruto.

"Who the hell is that strange floating boy, who are you weird animal people, where am I, why was I tied up, and WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

"Well, for starters," the weird floating boy they called Kisshu said before dissipating in thin air, leaving Naruto to frantically observe his surroundings for the boy. "I'll be taking your spirit," his voice whispered in his ear from behind him. He was about to whirl and face the boy when his surroundings changed from a forest clearing to that of a blue sky and sprawling city below him. He looked around in panic before feeling an unimaginable amount of pain begin to radiate from inside his body.

* * *

"Kuso!" Ryou yelled in slight panic as he watched the pair disappear. All the girls gasped at the foul language coming from his mouth.

"Is it really that bad?" Ichigo wondered as the seeds of panic were placed by her Ryou's obvious unease.

"Quickly, spread throughout the city and search for them! This is the worst possible thing that could happen right now!"

"How bad is it, Shirogane-san?" Lettuce asked worried.

"That boy houses enough power to wipe out the entire electrical grid in Tokyo," Ryou replied harshly, watching as even Zakuro paled in fright. "It is imperative that we find him before the boy's spirit is extracted from his body." Ryou exhaled slowly before visibly calming down. "Each of you begin searching for him. I'll head back to the lab to see if I can track the boy's energy signature."

"Hai!"

The girls leapt off into the city in a race against the clock to stop Kisshu before it was too late.

* * *

**Translations**

**baka: idiot  
**

**teme: somewhat equivalent to bastard  
**

**kuso: I believe it means shit  
**

**-san: added to name for formality, saying someone's name without an honorific alludes to great closeness**

**-sama: added to show great respect  
**

**-kun: when used by a girl refering to a boy, it is a term of endearment  
**

**Read and review please  
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	3. Chapter 2: Mew Youkai Shinobi

**Yo everybody. Next chapter here for you. I think I'm gonna start using this time to reply to any reviews I received. This way my Internet problems won't get in the way of my replies.**

**ddcj1990: Thanks for the encouragement! It would help to point out what I'm doing right so that I can continue to satisfy.**

**Vandnbz: Yeah, not his smartest idea... Still gotta cut the guy some slack though. He's unreasonably young to be leading a team against foreign aggression in my opinion. He won't be repeating this mistake ever again that's for sure.  
**

**Read and review folks. Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Ryou watched each girl dash off in different directions. Outwardly, he seemed calm, but inside his emotions swirled in a chaotic dance of panic at the situation and anger that he couldn't prevent it from happening. Whirling around, he turned and entered the café. He quickly made his way to the computer and searched for any sign of the boy's unique energy signature. After doing so he searched for his friend to see if he was alright. He found him out cold behind some monitors. After a few failed attempts to wake him, he resigned himself to waiting.

_30 minutes later_

Keiichiro slowly came back to the land of the living. He opened bleary eyes to see Ryou kneeling next to him.

"Ow, my head," he mumbled in pain.

"Are you alright?" Ryou asked in concern.

"I think so," Keiichiro replied. "What happened to me?"

Ryou's face soured at the reminder. "The boy we were holding escaped. I believe he knocked you out."

"Well, that explains the headache," Keiichiro mumbled through his hands as he gripped his head in pain.

"Unfortunately, healing will have to wait. One of the Cyniclons followed Ichigo back to the café, claiming to be after revenge on her. However, he overheard me talking to the boy and managed to overhear me telling the boy why we detained him."

"You don't mean?" Keiichiro paled.

"Yes. He disappeared saying he would take the boy's spirit."

"Do you have any idea where they could be?" Keiichiro asked urgently.

Ryou only shook his head. "I had the girls spread out throughout the city to search for the boy. I've been trying to track the boy's unique energy signature, but it's surprisingly difficult."

"I'll get right on it," Keiichiro said. Ryou leaned against the wall to watch his friend work his magic. He closed his eyes and offered a silent prayer to anyone who might be listening. 'Kami-sama, or whoever you are, please don't let it be too late.'

* * *

Naruto was in so much pain he could barely think straight. His entire being felt like it was being put through the ringer by the Kyuubi, healed once it was over and subjected to it over and over again. The Kyuubi watched as his container curled up in pain from an unknown source. He was puzzled by the behavior of his jailor as there were definitely no wounds on his body, he had made sure of that.

'**Genjutsu maybe?**' Kyuubi thought before discarding it as he would have realized it. He resorted to searching through the boy's memories for any clues.

"_Well, for starters, I'll be taking your spirit."_

Kyuubi's eyes widened at the implications of this statement. If he played his cards right, yes this might work…. Chuckling sinisterly, the Kyuubi laid in wait for the perfect moment to enact his plan.

* * *

'Not here,' Ichigo thought as she observed the rooftops around her vicinity. She quickly left as soon as she realized there was nothing to be found. She gave a start and almost missed a jump as her pendant suddenly began talking.

"Ichigo can you hear me?"

"Shirogane-san! You're okay!"

"Later," Keiichiro said bluntly, shocking Ichigo with his lack of any semblance of the kindness he seemed known for. "The boy is on top of the Tokyo tower. You're the closest one so it's up to you to stop Kisshu."

"Understood," Ichigo replied curtly as she dashed off for her objective.

"Damn, this boy's spirit really is strong," Kisshu said as he struggled to pull the boy's spirit out before a Mew Mew found him. He had been at it for almost half an hour now with barely any results to speak of.

'At this rate, one of those mew mews will find me before I'm finished,' he thought as he doubled his efforts. Slowly but surely, his efforts began to pay off. He watched hungrily as a pure white spirit began to emerge from the boy's chest. 'This spirit…' he thought in awe, 'with this power at our disposal… the Earth is finished.'

He smiled as he watched the spirit make its slow departure from the boy's body. Just as he was about to finish the job, something strange happened. The boy's spirit was suddenly sucked back into his body.

'No! I was so close!' Kisshu mentally vented his frustration before his look of frustration changed to one of awe. From the boy's stomach a red soul began to emerge. It pulsated with an unimaginable power that could not have been of this world, hell not even this universe.

'This power… it fills me with dread just staring at it. This soul will be the key to our victory. With it our future is assured.' Kisshu's face broke into a huge grin before he burst out laughing. With one final pull the spirit was free of the boy, although it appeared to not be enough. At the point where it exited there was a string of blue energy attached to the boy's stomach. A little puzzled at the development, Kisshu got closer to inspect this obstacle to his goals. Inscribed on the string was the Kanji for Shinigami. That was all he was able to see before he was attacked.

"Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

Kisshu quickly leapt away from the boy as her attack sailed at the spot he once in. His hand still held the magnificent soul he was able to harness from the boy, causing the string to pull taut. With an audible snap, the string broke and relinquished its hold on the soul.

"graaAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Immediately when the string was cut the blond boy let out an agonizing scream, writhing in what seemed to be unimaginable pain. Ichigo leapt down and frantically looked over the boy while wincing in pain from the assault on her sensitive cat ears.

"What did you do to him!?" she screamed in outrage as she leveled a glare at Kisshu.

"Aww, don't be like that koneko-chan. Besides, don't you want to meet my new toy?" Kisshu asked mockingly while holding up the glowing red orb. "This one deserves something special," he said while pulling out a new predesite. It was substantially larger than most and glowed a dark blue color. Bringing both his hands together, he allowed the predesite to fuse with the soul.

"FUSION!"

Immediately the sky turned gray as a horrible power swept through the city. It all condensed together around the predesite for a couple seconds before scattering itself to the wind. A small portion was left behind to begin taking on the shape of a person. A bright flash blinded Ichigo before it faded away, revealing a figure standing before her. The man before her exuded an aura of power and awe-inspiring fear. His back was turned to her revealing long crimson hair that flowed down his back in nine tails. He wore a black cloak with an insignia on it in the shape of a roaring fox head. He wore black shorts that went down to right above his knees and black sandals adorned his feet. Ichigo was trembling in fear as her friends finally arrived.

"Who is that," Mint asked, her voice wavering.

Ichigo was unable to respond. All the girls tensed as the man turned around, his eyes still closed. He faced them for a few seconds before his eyes opened. The slitted crimson eyes of his bored down on them. His eyes transmitted an unbelievable amount of hatred and bloodlust, inspiring fear in their very souls.

"What's happening over there girls?" Ryou's voice rang out of the communicator.

"Something bad," was Zakuro's sole reply.

The man's gaze left them allowing them to realize that they had forgotten to breathe. He turned his eyes to Kisshu. Kisshu was grinning in absolute triumph as the predesite had done its work beautifully.

"You are the one who freed me, correct?" The man questioned Kisshu.

"That's right," he said still grinning.

"I owe you a debt Gaki," the man said causing Kisshu to scowl. "I will grant you one favor. If it is within my power to give you, I, Kyuubi no Youko, shall grant your request." Kisshu never noticed the gleam in the man's eyes.

"I don't know who the hell you are, but if you help me conquer this planet Earth, I'll consider your debt paid."

A wide grin made its way across the man's face. "We have a deal," he replied Kisshu grinned madly and grabbed the man's hand. Both of them disappeared to wherever Kisshu went after he attacked.

"Girls! Are you alright?" They directed their attention to the source of the voice. Ryou and Keiichiro were running towards them from their car.

"We're fine but the boy doesn't seem to be okay," Zakuro replied, reminding them of said person.

"Allow me," Keiichiro said as he dropped beside the boy. He checked the boy over for any wounds of any kind before asking a question. "Was the boy's spirit taken out?" he asked Ichigo.

"It seemed like it," she replied. "Kisshu pulled something out of his body but it didn't come from his chest like it normally would."

"Explain," Ryou ordered.

"Well, it was originating from his stomach from what I saw. It was also attached with a string that had the kanji for Shinigami inscribed on it."

"The mark on his stomach! It's gone!" Keiichiro called out.

"Why would it have disappeared?" Ryou pondered.

"Will you forget that for a moment?!" Mint yelled shocking everyone into silence. "His pulse is weakening fast. If he isn't treated immediately, he will die."

"Shirogane! Quickly load the boy into our car. We'll take him to the lab for medical treatment." Keiichiro ordered as he jumped into the driver's seat.

The girls watched the two leave in a screech of tires and dust cloud. They all coughed as the dust reached them.

"Let's get to the café so we can help," Ichigo said.

"Right," the rest replied as they de-transformed and made their way back to the café.

* * *

"Damn it! Nothing's working!" Keiichiro said as the boy's vitals continued to drop. It was puzzling to say the least. The boy had no wounds or any internal bleeding to speak of and yet he could not be stabilized.

"Do we know what's wrong with him?" Ichigo asked Ryou as they all watched Keiichiro's frantic struggle to save the boy.

"No. It seems as though his life was forfeit once that mark disappeared."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Pudding asked.

"There is one way," Ryou mumbled.

"WHAT! Why haven't you done it yet?!" Ichigo yelled in outrage.

"Think Ichigo," Zakuro said as she studied Ryou. "The boy has animal DNA flowing through his system just like us."

"You don't mean…"

"We make him a Mew Mew?" Mint asked skeptically.

"Yeah! New member means new friends!" Pudding exalted.

"There must be a reason why you haven't done it yet," Zakuro whispered to Ryou as the others conversed happily.

"Nothing gets by you does it?" Ryou mumbled quietly. "Yes, there is a reason. If your DNA isn't compatible with the serum, there is a very low chance of survival. Thanks to his animal DNA, his odds are higher than most, but not by much." Ryou sighed in exhaustion, "However, this is the only way to make sure he lives." He separated from the wall and walked calmly to Keiichiro.

"Give him the serum," Ryou said.

Keiichiro's eyes widened before hardening into a serious expression. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this. There's no turning back after we do. You of all people should realize this."

"If we don't do it now he will die," was the blunt reply.

"All right," Keiichiro sighed, suddenly feeling like a great weight was placed on his shoulders. "I'll prepare the serum."

Ryou looked at the boy he had come to know over the last week and desperately hoped that he wasn't making a mistake.

"Here it is," Keiichiro said.

Ryou grabbed the needle from his friend and bent down to administer it. "I know you can't hear me boy, but you're dying. I can save you, but you must accept the gift I am about to give you." With that he plunged the needle into his arm.

* * *

Naruto laid among the waters of his sewer wondering just how things had gone so horribly wrong. First, his best friend and brother defected, leaving him to see just how much Sasuke meant to Sakura. It was a heavy blow on his heart, but as always he smiled and bore it. Then, he was almost killed by the same brother, all because he was desperate for power. To top it all off, the Kyuubi ended up transporting him to who the hell knows where, he was captured by a weird floating pretty boy, and then subjected to some of the worst pain he had ever felt. And now, he was dying. He hadn't even become Hokage yet, or married Sakura. So he lay there after struggling to keep his chakra from fading for what felt like an eternity before it finally overwhelmed him. What did he have to live for? Everyone hated him anyways. He was just so tired of living after years of abuse that culminated with Sasuke's defection. He had given up, fully prepared to die and see a better place. However, just as the last of his chakra was about to fade, he saw a light appear in front of him. He reached up and grabbed it wondering what it was. He was about to discard it when the voice of the blond haired guy who held him captive floated through his consciousness.

"I know you can't hear me, but you are dying. I can save you but you must accept the gift I am about to give you."

'Why should I? There's nothing left for me.'

'_Do you have something that is precious to you?'_

Naruto's eyes widened as he remembered the words his friend had spoken to him. The very words that would one day shape his nindo.

'_Those who disobey the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash.'_

Was he lower than trash? Was he disregarding the words of his teacher when he decided to die without a fight, completely disregarding his friends' feelings?

'_When you have someone that is precious to you, then you will become truly strong. At least, that's what I believe.'_

'You're right Haku, you're absolutely right. I can't die yet! I made a promise to the village at birth to protect it from the nine-tails. I made a promise to my friends that I would return safely. I made a promise to Sakura that I would bring the teme back. But most importantly…'

"I CAN'T DIE UNTIL I'VE BECOME HOKAGE, SO THAT I CAN PROTECT ALL THOSE I HOLD DEAR!"

Naruto grabbed the light and allowed its power to flow through him.

* * *

Ryou sighed as the boy lay still after five minutes. "He doesn't seem to have the will to live anymore." He turned around and walked past the girls who were beginning to cry.

"Wait, his vitals! They're rising!"

Ryou whirled around as he heard Keiichiro's voice break the moment. All of them watched the boy begin glowing with the power of metamorphosis.

"Hijutsu: Mew Youkai Shinobi."

The whispered words were the catalyst as a great light burst forth from the boy blinding them.

Naruto held a small golden pendant in his left hand and a kunai in his right. He slowly placed the pendant into the hole of the kunai and released it allowing the metal to bend in an unnatural way. His clothes flashed before changing into a bright orange cloak. The cloak fit over a snug fishnet shirt and black vest, open in the front to allow you to see the articles of clothing underneath. He wore black shorts and sandals to compliment the outfit. His nails began to lengthen and his whiskers darkened while adding another pair to the two already on his face. His canines poked out from under his lips once more, but that was where familiarity ended. Two fox ears sprouted from his head right behind his headband and a red fox tail burst from his backside. The kunai finished twisting revealing the Uzumaki crest before it gently attached itself to the back of his cloak. His eyes slowly opened to reveal slitted blue eyes that looked like they could stare into a person's soul. He slashed his claws in front of him twice leaving an afterimage made of chakra and backflipped over the claw marks imbedded in the air. He landed facing the claw marks revealing the crest while he peered over his shoulder revealing a single slitted eye.

Naruto looked down at his nails in wonder. It was like using the Kyuubi's chakra, but without the drawbacks. He was about ready to jump for joy when something furry brushed his hand. He glanced down to see a fox tail rubbing against his hand. His eyes trailed it as far as they could go before he lost sight of it. His hand followed the tail, noticing that wherever it was touched he felt it. With a dawning realization of horror, he followed the tail where it ended at the seat of his pants.

"I see you've found your new appendages," A voice drawled sarcastically. Naruto whirled around to see that blond guy once again.

"What the hell happened to me?!" he yelled grabbing his head in panic. He stopped as he felt yet another anomaly on his head.

"Don't freak out, but you also have a pair of fox ears on your head," was the blond man's cynical reply.

"GAAAH!" Naruto yelled completely ignoring him in favor of the terror that coursed through him. That terror gave way to anger pretty quickly.

"All right teme, what the hell did you do to me." Ryou made to speak before Naruto rudely interrupted. "And don't even think of lying, or I'll make sure you never see the light of day again.

"Ah, allow me to explain."

Naruto gave his full attention to Keiichiro and gestured for him to continue. "What do you last remember? It might make it easier to explain what happened."

"Well," Naruto said scratching his head, "I remember that weird floating dude grabbed before the world around me just seemed to melt. Next thing I knew, I was on some really tall metal thing with no idea how I got there. Then there was pain, unlike anything I've ever felt. Behind this pain was a gentle tug that seemed to be pulling on my chakra. I fought against this force with all I had for what felt like hours. Just when I reeled it back in though, I felt a horrible wrenching feeling originating around my gut. After that everything seemed to blur until that strange light appeared. I grabbed it and woke up looking like I do now." Naruto twitched in irritation at the end of his statement.

Keiichiro looked up in thought, wondering how to explain. "Well, as far as we can tell, that 'weird floating guy' was after your spirit because of how powerful it is."

"My spirit?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Every person has a spirit in them. It is what gives us life. Depending on how pure your spirit is, it seems that it gets more powerful the more pure it is. We're not sure what defines a spirit as 'pure', but it obviously means something as you seem to constantly emit the energy from your spirit. I believe you called it chakra…" Keiichiro trailed off as he saw that Naruto was drooling with sparks flying from his head.

"A little simpler please? You're giving me a headache," Naruto mumbled holding his head. The girls giggled at the display.

"Basically, someone tried to steal your soul."

"No wonder it hurt so bad…" was Naruto's only reply.

"As for the gut-wrenching sensation, I'll allow Ichigo to explain."

"You mean the cat girl right? Where is she anyways," Naruto said after he swept over the room with his eyes.

"HEY! I'm right over here baka!"

Naruto turned to see a red haired girl shaking her fist at him. "But you don't have pink hair or cat ears."

"They aren't permanent!" She replied indignantly, "and neither are yours for that matter."

"They're not?" Naruto replied his eyes lighting up at the first good news all day.

"Can we get on with the story please," Ryou said exasperatedly. "I'll explain all the ins and outs of your powers later, just finish so I can tell him what happened."

"Ah, right. Sorry Shirogane-san." Taking a moment to compose herself she continued the story. "We all spread out to look for you after Kisshu took you away. We had searched for about an hour before Keiichiro called and told us you were on top of the Tokyo tower. I was the closest and was sent to stop Kisshu first. When I saw him he was holding a blood red spirit in his hand that was attached to your stomach via a string with the kanji for Shinigami on it."

Naruto paled as he realized the implications.

Ichigo continued unaware of the dark conclusions Naruto began to draw. "I immediately attacked hoping to stop Kisshu and save you but he dodged my attack before it hit. My attack instead hit the string and cut it in two. Immediately you started screaming bloody murder, almost as if you were being hurt from the inside out." Ichigo shuddered slightly.

"Afterwards, the rest of us arrived on the scene," Zakuro continued.

"Yeah! But then Kisshu fused the soul with a new predesite, an alien that takes over your brain," Pudding added cheerfully, disturbing Naruto slightly.

"Just as the predesite was about to finish its job, the energy became unstable and exploded, scattering the souls power to the wind," Mint said.

"The figure that emerged from the fusion was completely different from what normally happened. The man radiated malice and bloodlust so palpable, we were unable to breathe in its presence," Lettuce said.

"Did he say who he was!" Naruto said moving into Lettuce's face so fast his image blurred.

"Umm," Lettuce said backing away.

"You seem to know this person," Zakuro stated.

Naruto glanced in her direction. "For all our sakes, I hope I don't." His voice seemed to carry a hint of fear for the first time since they met him.

"He pledged allegiance to Kisshu in return for freeing him, and introduced himself as Kyuubi no Youko," Ichigo said.

"KUSO!" Naruto swore vehemently, shocking them with his intensity. Each of the girls sans Zakuro watched quizzically as Naruto began to get very colorful with his cursing. The three older people just blushed one after another, wondering where a twelve year old gained such a colorful vocabulary.

"Umm, mister?" Pudding asked, "What do all those words mean?"

Naruto blushed slightly when he remembered his audience. "Ah, nothing you need to know…" Naruto trailed off as he realized he still didn't know their names. "Um, who are you anyway?"

"How terribly rude of us, my sincerest apologies. My name is Akasaka Keiichiro. This is my partner, Shirogane Ryou," Keiichiro said gesturing to the blond dude from before.

"That's Shirogane-san to you," was Ryou's sharp addition. Naruto just scowled at his dismissive attitude.

"I'm Momomiya Ichigo," red haired girl from before said happily.

"My name is Fong Pudding!" The young girl said cheerfully. "I'm a street performer! I'll show you what I can do someday."

"I-I'm Midorikawa Lettuce," the green haired girl said while bowing. "Pleased to meet you."

The blue haired girl gave him a condescending look that made him bristle. "Aizawa Mint," was her condescending reply. Naruto scowled as he was reminded of a certain raven haired teme.

"Fujiwara Zakuro," was the purple haired girl's curt reply. While not disrespectful, Naruto was a little miffed by her attitude.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves!" Naruto told them while flashing his signature fox grin.

"What's a Hokage?" All the girls asked in tandem.

"NANI?!" was Naruto's shocked reply. "How can you not know what the Hokage is!"

"For that matter, what is Konoha?" Lettuce asked. "I've never heard of a place like that in any of the books I've read."

Naruto slipped into shock while his brain whirled trying to figure out how someone could NOT know what Konoha was. He knew for a fact that everyone knew of the five great nations in the elemental countries. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he recalled what the Kyuubi told him before he was extracted.

"_**All that power in one place created a dimensional tear.**__"_

"_What the hell does that mean fuzzball!?"_

"_**We're in another dimension.**__"_

"Oh yeah, I remember being told I was in another dimension by the baka fox."

All the girls froze before turning to Pudding woodenly.

"Umm, you wouldn't happen to be a ninja would you?" Ichigo asked weakly.

Naruto immediately went on the defensive. "How the hell did you know that?"

All the girls cringed as Pudding let out a whoop of joy. "I told you he was a ninja from another dimension! But did you listen to Pudding? No you didn't! Maybe this will teach you to accuse me of making up stories." Deep in her mind, however, it was a different story. 'Eheheh, I can't believe I was right…'

"I am never questioning her crazy stories ever again," Ichigo whispered to Mint. She just nodded, still shocked.

"You said you knew who that person was, or at least hinted to it," Zakuro said after a tense silence.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, making his slits become rather intimidating. "Sit down this will be a long story."

* * *

"So new guy, what's your story?" Kisshu asked turning to the demon behind him.

Kyuubi glanced around the void that this creature called home before smirking at him. "So, you wish to know my story?"

"Of course. You're my new subordinate, I'd like to know who I'm dealing with." Kisshu replied with a shrug. Kyuubi gritted his teeth at the title he had been given. 'Damn it, this is degrading. If I hadn't lost eight of my tails in the release, he'd be dead.' Schooling himself he began his tale. "As I said before, I am the Kyuubi no Youko, more commonly known as the nine-tailed fox. I am the last of the nine tailed beasts and also the most powerful." Kyuubi began to leak a large amount of killing intent, causing Kisshu to sweat. "We have lived for many millennia, avoiding the filthy race known as humans. However, our power was seen as a threat to them. It took hundreds of years, but finally one of us was confronted with a human who delved into an art known as fuuinjutsu, the art of sealing."

"No one knows when the first ninjas appeared, but Iruka-sensei said that it is generally accepted that the man known as the Sage of Six Paths was the father of ninjutsu, a skill that the elemental countries was built on. Legend says that he sealed a great demon within him to save all of mankind. As his life was about to end he released the beast within him and split its energy into nine beasts with tails that marked their power. As his final act, he created the moon in the sky and sealed the beast's body in it."

"Wait the moon?! Like the bright circle in the night time sky?" Ichigo asked in shock

Naruto nodded. "Those tailed beasts I spoke of, he was one of them. The strongest of them all, the Kyuubi no Youko, the nine-tailed demon fox."

"So, we're up against a demon now," Ryou muttered in thought. All the girls began to panic as they realized what this meant. Ryou turned to Naruto, "I wish to ask you something."

Naruto gave him a wary look.

"Can we get your help in fighting this Kyuubi? As it stands, the only person who might know how to fight it is you. Will you join our group as a Mew Mew?"

Naruto slipped into deep thought. 'I don't know what I should do. On one hand I need to get home. Baa-chan needs to know I'm alright. But I can't leave them to fight the Kyuubi by themselves. I also need a place to stay and these people could provide it for me. Maybe they could even help me find a way home.' Naruto looked up his mind made up. "I'll join you if you help me get home."

Ryou smirked. "No guarantees but we'll try." He extended his hand toward the blond ninja, "Welcome to Tokyo Mew Mew." Naruto gave a foxy grin and grasped the man's hand in a firm handshake.

"Yay! We got a new member!" Pudding yelled as she jumped and latched onto the blond's back. Said blond just ruffled her hair with a smile.

"That's quite the story," Kisshu told the Kyuubi. "Well now that we've got that covered let me lay some rules down. I have a leader, Deep Blue-sama, who I am beginning to believe could care less about the fate of our people. I want you to take your orders directly from me. If Deep Blue-sama gives you an order, do it in a way that makes sure you're following my agenda while letting him think you're following him. Other than that, I don't care what you do."

"It will be done," Kyuubi said before turning around and stalking off. 'I lost too many tails when I escaped the seal. The boy has one tail thanks to the accursed seal, but I also have one. My power may have scattered but it will gather itself into different tails so that I can find them. All I need to do is obey this idiot until I gain the rest of my tails.' The Kyuubi laughed as he plunged into the shadows of the ship, scheming his revenge.

* * *

**Translations******

Hijutsu: Mew Youkai Shinobi- Secret Jutsu: Mew Demonic Ninja  



	4. Chapter 3: Haku's Legacy

**Yo, sorry this took so long. I wanted to stay as close to the canon as possible so it took some time to find a video of the episodes I needed. It shouldn't be so bad after this since it takes a turn that allows me more freedom.**

**Review replies  
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**Ralas Draco: Thanks! And to answer your question, maybe? It's kinda hard to make that work thanks to the character Masashi Kishimoto gave Naruto. If yes, it might take a while to develop.  
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**Vandenbz: Thanks for your faithful reviewing. Your reviews are quite the bright spot in my day.  
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**Wolfpackersson09: Unfortunately, this might not be your story if that's what you look for. I hope you continue to read regardless.  
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**Yukicrewger2: Not sure what to say. I didn't really get the reference.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tokyo Mew Mew. I own this idea however.  
**

* * *

"Umm, Shirogane-san?" Naruto spoke with his eyes twitching.

Ryou just turned to Naruto with a bored expression. "Yes?"

"I know I'm supposed to work here to keep up the front you set up, but…" Naruto twitched again as he stood there. "WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE TO WEAR THIS DUMB OUTFIT!" He gestured to the butler's outfit he wore while tugging at his collar.

Ryou sighed, fully expecting this. It was the tenth time he had asked this question. "The theme of Café Mew Mew includes being treated like royalty, hence the maid and butler outfits."

"But it's so boring looking! Don't you have anything in orange?!"

Ryou twitched trying to keep his temper under control. He found that it was increasingly harder to deal with the blond as time went on.

"Just get out there and do your job baka!" he yelled slamming the door in Naruto's face.

Naruto twitched once more, completely unhappy with the way that ended. He still had to wear the dumb outfit, it was still unbelievably uncomfortable, and he didn't have any orange to speak of.

"Tch, teme boss." Naruto muttered under his breath as he walked downstairs.

"Ah, Naruto there you are!"

'Crud…'

"What do you need Akasaka-san?"

"This cake needs to go to the group at table 7. Can you take it out there?"

"Yeah, sure. Which is table 7 again?"

"The one by the window on the east side."

Naruto sighed as he performed his duties. This was degrading. He was a ninja damn it! He tried to remember why he had agreed to this in the first place.

_Flashback_

"Now that the girls have gone home, we can talk about living arrangements," Keiichiro said.

"So, what did you have in mind?" Naruto asked.

"Alright Uzumaki, listen well as I'm only going to explain this once," Ryou said pinning Naruto with a stare. "Here on Earth, power like what you and the girls have is abnormal. You six are the only people in this entire world that are able to transform into an animal hybrid. We need your identities to stay secret so that people won't abuse this power."

"That makes sense," Naruto nodded, thinking of what Orochimaru would do with this.

Keiichiro continued where his friend left off. "To do this, we created this store as a front for the headquarters of our operation. We require the girls to work here after school so that they have a plausible alibi since we run the place as manager and chef."

'Damn! They really thought this out!' Naruto thought, amazed at their foresight.

Keiichiro continued. "Now for you, we need to do things differently. You have no home, no identity, and no way of earning any income. We decided to give you a full-time job here so that you can earn enough money to pay for a small apartment for the duration of your stay. All the transactions will be handled under our names, allowing us to keep you a secret."

"We'll be subtracting your expenses from your pay of course," Ryou said. "I'll have Keiichiro-san show you your house. Just show up tomorrow morning ready to work."

_Flashback end_

Oh yeah…

The apartment had been pretty cool, much nicer than anything he had ever lived in. He had started work this morning and had quickly become frustrated with the idiocy of the outfits. Luckily, no one he knew would ever see him like this. So far it was slow as school had yet to let out, something Naruto was grateful he had "convinced" his new bosses that it was entirely unnecessary for him to attend (Read threatened to trash the lab if they made him attend).

"Here's your cake sir," Naruto twitched as he forced the polite words out of his mouth. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"That'll be all for now," the man replied with a smile. Naruto nodded and left to take care of the pile of dishes that had accumulated over the day. He sighed as he remembered how he had spent all day with Ichigo and Lettuce learning how to do the kitchen work. It was a frustrating affair that showed him a problem he needed to look into.

_Flashback_

"Do you think you can do that Uzumaki-san?" Lettuce asked as she showed him her spotless plate for the hundredth time.

"Bah! This is way too complicated! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The results were not what he had expected. Instead of the normal ten he had tried to create a puff of smoke appeared and out came only a single clone. On top of that, he could actually feel a very small amount of fatigue from using the jutsu.

"What the hell?" He panted as he watched the clone do its job.

"WHAT IS THAT THING!?" Ichigo freaked as she watched the duplicate do the dishes with a grumble.

"Huh? Oh, that's a shadow clone. It's a physical copy made up of my chakra," he explained. "But it's strange. Usually I can make up to a thousand before I feel tired."

"Sugoi!" Ichigo said as she fantasized a thousand clones doing all her schoolwork for her.

"Well, I guess I'll have to do some of this myself after all," he grimaced as he started doing the dishes with his clone.

_Flashback end_

He had experimented at the apartment to see what his chakra levels were like and was rather upset to find that he had barely one tenth of his original amount. The only good news had been that his chakra had become much easier to control. The fox was good for something after all it seemed. It didn't really affect his fighting though. That Mew stuff they gave him was rather potent and seemed to replenish some of his chakra reserves. It was strange though since the chakra he felt was like a muffled version of the Kyuubi's. Meh, he'd worry about that later. His head snapped to the entrance as the bell jingled.

"Hi Pudding-chan!" Naruto called with a grin as he saw his favorite friend walk in.

"Hi Naruto!" she replied happily as she jumped up to him grinning as well. "How's your day been!"

Naruto's face twisted in a grimace. "Boring as hell. There's barely anybody here until school ends so I'm pretty much stuck here with nothing to do but complain. I've been thinking of pranking Shirogane-san, guy needs to loosen up."

"If you want, I can give you a fortune that will tell you how successful it will be," Pudding said with a grin as she pulled out her bag of tricks from who knows where.

"All right then, hit me with your best shot," he replied, grinning equally as wide as she was.

* * *

_Out in the city_

"Humans are such a disgusting race," Kisshu sneered from atop one of the larger buildings.

"I agree. Their greed and thirst for power is sickening to behold," Kyuubi said as he leaned on a water tower that was behind them, nevermind the fact he just described himself.

"Especially those two," Kisshu grimaced as he was assaulted with images of Ichigo and Aoyama.

'Here we go again,' Kyuubi sighed as he prepared for another rant.

"I mean what does he have that I don't!"

"A sense of pride," Kyuubi cut in causing Kisshu to glare at him.

"I'm going to go out. Just stay out of sight for now."

"As you wish," Kyuubi bowed while Kisshu disappeared. When he was gone, Kyuubi allowed his thoughts to reflect on what he had learned.

_Flashback_

"Hey new guy!"

Kyuubi growled in annoyance. "It's Kyuubi you baka!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come with me. I'm going to meet with Deep Blue-sama. I want to introduce you to him."

Kyuubi followed Kisshu to the center of the ship. "Who is this Deep Blue you always speak of?" he asked.

"Deep Blue-sama is our savior. He is the one who will lead my people out of the wasteland we live in and give us back Earth."

Kyuubi was about to make some kind of sarcastic remark but was shut up as his surroundings were changed into a black void. Floating in front of him was a blue orb of light.

"Kisshu, how close are you to taking the blue planet?"

Kyuubi's eyes widened slightly as he felt the immense power that was veiled in the words.

"Progressing smoothly sire. The only problem is those damn Mew Mew girls, but that should no longer be an obstacle."

"Who is this person with you?" Deep Blue's voice echoed out.

"He calls himself Kyuubi no Kitsune, and he is the answer to all our problems."

Kyuubi began to feel a little jumpy as the silence stretched on.

"I can sense great power within him," Deep Blue said. "Good job Kisshu. Continue as you have and all your past mistakes will be forgiven."

"Hai, Deep Blue-sama."

The world swirled and returned to the archaic designs of the central control room of the ship.

"This Deep Blue, how powerful is he?" Kyuubi asked.

"When he was alive, it was said that a swing of his sword could disintegrate a planet," Kisshu said. "He was slain by one of his own children that feared his power. In the end, his pride was the ultimate reason for his downfall because he knew his child was plotting his death for a while."

Kyuubi contemplated what this could mean for his plans. He would not be made subservient to another person ever again. If it came to it he may have to kill this person before he could awaken.

_Flashback end_

He had learned a lot about the Cyniclons from Kisshu as well but it wasn't important to him. He closed his eyes and searched for his chakra. It was everywhere. However, it was spread much too thinly to be useable.

'The chakra is still not ready to become a tail yet.' Kyuubi frowned as he continued his search. It was frustrating really. All his chakra right there and he couldn't touch it. Suddenly, his eyes sprung open as he sensed a full tail's worth of chakra in one spot. Grinning widely he began to make his way to the source.

* * *

"Haaaaah…" Ichigo sighed depressed as she washed the dishes with a vacant expression on her face.

"What's wrong with her?" Naruto asked as he popped up right behind Mint and Pudding.

"GAAAH! Don't do that Uzumaki-baka!" Mint yelled as she jumped in surprise. She quickly smoothed herself before explaining to Naruto. "She's scared that Aoyama-san recognized her from the television show last night."

"You mean that weird safari thing?" Naruto asked.

"That's the one!" Pudding replied.

"What's so bad about that?" Naruto questioned.

Both of them just stared at him for a second.

"Yeah what is so bad about that anyway?" Pudding asked.

Mint sighed. "Ears and a tail ring a bell?"

"OH!" Naruto and Pudding replied simultaneously as the proverbial light bulb went off over their heads. "I still don't get it." She watched as the bulbs shattered into a million pieces. Facepalming, she just turned to Ichigo and asked her the question.

"So, did Aoyama-san recognize you or what?"

"Don't know!" Ichigo replied in mock cheerfulness. "I haven't seen him all day."

"Either way, Aoyama-san would never believe you were an awesome superhero anyways," Pudding chimed in. Even Naruto sweatdropped at the next thing she said as Ichigo walked out dejectedly. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Hey wait!" Lettuce called making Ichigo stop. "We just wanted to let you know that we understand what you're going through."

"Even I do, if you can believe it," Zakuro added.

"If it makes you feel better, you can wait on one of my tables tomorrow," Mint said.

"I'll tumble for ya," Pudding chimed in.

"Thanks guys," Ichigo said, "But I'll be okay."

They all just looked at each other and shrugged before going their separate ways.

"Hey," Naruto spoke up getting Ichigo's attention.

"Yeah," she asked before freezing as Naruto's squinted eyes were about three centimeters in front of her. "Wh-What are you doing!"

Naruto pulled back at her outburst and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, sorry. I just wanted to be sure that you were okay. You are my new friend after all."

Ichigo just sighed. "Yeah, I'll be okay. See you tomorrow Uzumaki-san."

"Bye Ichigo," Naruto said as he watched her leave. He shrugged realizing that there was nothing else he could do and started the long walk to his apartment. He had just started down the walkway when he heard a familiar voice speak.

"So, you managed to survive the extraction."

Naruto had a kunai in his hands before he could blink and flung it at the source of the voice.

"Now now, there's no need to be hasty," Kyuubi said as he walked out of the shade of the tree with Naruto's kunai in his palm.

"What do you want teme!" Naruto asked as he pulled out another kunai.

"Nothing much, just came to see why a tail of my chakra was missing."

"What do you mean?" Naruto questioned.

"Hm," Kyuubi smirked, "It figures you wouldn't realize it. You still have some of my chakra."

Naruto's mind began to click things together. The mew mew power must be purifying Kyuubi's chakra. That's why when he fought with it, he felt like he was using Kyuubi's chakra.

"So that's why," Naruto mumbled.

"Well, it seems you're not completely stupid after all," Kyuubi taunted drawing Naruto's glare. "You have something of mine. I'm going to take it back now." Kyuubi began to leak red chakra and form the cloak that Naruto used at the Valley of the End.

"Try it teme! Hijutsu: Mew Youkai Shinobi!" with a flourish Naruto's outfit was changed to the outfit of the youkai shinobi. His single tail flicked behind him as he growled.

"Interesting," Kyuubi muttered. "No matter, that chakra is borrowed chakra. I'm here to take it back at the cost of your life!" He crouched down and let out a roar infused with chakra. Naruto jumped away and performed the kage bunshin. All the clones let out a scream as they charged the demon. Kyuubi grinned as his bloodlust began to rise.

* * *

Ichigo was walking towards her home, fretting over what she should do about the situation she found herself in.

'What if he recognizes me? What if he thinks I'm a freak?' Her thoughts all spiraled down this dreary path. She had barely started to even think of the positives when Masha began chanting.

"Predesite alert! Predesite alert!" Masha spoke up from her cell phone.

"Huh? Where is it Masha?"

"This way! Follow me!" he zoomed off back the way she came.

"Mew Mew Ichigo, METAMORPHO-SIS!" she changed into her cute pink dress and gained the cat ears and tail. "All right Masha, lead the way!"

* * *

"HAAAAAAH!" Naruto crashed into the ground where Kyuubi had been moments ago creating a small crater. He was being beaten, badly. Kyuubi had much more skill and control over the cloak than Naruto could ever dream of having. It was all resulting in a very long and drawn out battle as he was knocked down over and over. He never gave up though. No matter how many times the Kyuubi would knock him down he was always up a few seconds later. He quickly leapt back as a red claw was shot for where he was. He was too slow though and got nicked in his Achilles' heel. He cried in pain as he fell to his knees, no longer able to support himself.

"Now it's time to give me what is mine," Kyuubi said as he appeared next to Naruto in a burst of speed. Naruto just glared and snarled at Kyuubi, his animal instincts kicking in. He swiped at Kyuubi with his claws but they were easily caught.

"Don't worry," Kyuubi said maliciously. "I'll make sure this is as painful as possible."

"Ribbon Strawberry check!"

Kyuubi growled as he was launched from Naruto's side by a flash of rainbow colored light. He leapt to his feet with a snarl and watched as the cat girl from before landed next to Naruto.

"Are you okay Uzumaki-san?" Ichigo asked as she stared down Kyuubi.

"Not really," Naruto grimaced. "He got my heel and now I can't stand on it."

"What are you doing here!?" Ichigo asked Kyuubi.

"Just returning for what's rightfully mine," Kyuubi replied coldly. "However, it seems that I will not be getting it today. Until we meet again gaki." Kyuubi jumped into the trees and disappeared.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be waiting teme," Naruto grumbled as he glared at the spot where Kyuubi once stood.

"What did he mean by rightfully his?" Ichigo asked as she finally turned to look at Naruto. She froze at the rather gruesome sight before her. Naruto looked like he had tousled with the devil himself for almost an hour. He was bloodied and bruised all over. His ears just seemed to droop above his head from the stress of putting forth the effort to keep them upright. "Oh Kami! What the hell happened to you!?" she screamed.

Naruto froze when those words left Ichigo's mouth. "Uuuuh, I got thrashed?" He asked hoping that was the correct answer.

"That's putting it mildly," was her sarcastic reply. "Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."

"Ah, no need for that!" Naruto replied frantically. "I just need some sleep. All these wounds will be gone by tomorrow."

"No, you're going to the hospital," she replied as she started to drag him away.

"I can't Ichigo!" Naruto yelled, surprising her. "Do you know how odd it will look if I wake up tomorrow with no injuries! That kind of healing isn't natural." His voice seemed to gain a sad inflection towards the end of that statement.

Ichigo stared for a while before sighing and deciding to trust him. "All right. At least let me help you get home."

Naruto just nodded. He could agree to that much. He struggled to his feet with a grunt before leaning on Ichigo for support.

"You're heavy!" she exclaimed as his weight came down on her. "You're lucky I didn't let go of my transformation or we'd both be on the floor."

"So mean!" Naruto said with a teasing grin on his face. They both began the walk to Naruto's apartment under his guidance.

"What did he mean by you have something of his?" Ichigo asked. "Did you take something from him?"

Naruto's face twisted from an unknown emotion. "You could say that," he grumbled. "It's not something I'm willing to share just yet."

Ichigo nodded allowing him his privacy.

"So, who's this Aoyama-san I keep hearing about?" Naruto asked when the silence became uncomfortable. Ichigo's face just seemed to droop.

"He's one of my classmates at school. His name is Aoyama Masaya," she said.

Naruto's brow raised as he heard that. What was the big deal?

"It's just, he's so, I don't know. He's really handsome and the most popular guy in school. He doesn't let that affect his character though. He's really kind and compassionate. He's always concerned with the world around him and always trying to make the world a better place. He's strong too. He's in the championship rounds of the kendo tournament."

Naruto watched her describe the boy with a smile on his face. "You love him don't you."

Ichigo exploded in a blush. "Wh-What!? I'm not in love with him! What made you say that!" she exclaimed while frantically waving her arms.

Naruto just laughed at her reaction. "Ahahaha, no need to be so uppity about it! You just remind me of myself when I talk about my crush."

Ichigo just looked at the floor as she tried to control the massive blush that had sprouted across her face. After a while she was able to control it. "What was your crush like?" she asked timidly with a small blush. (Damn it!)

"Her name is Sakura Haruno. She's the most beautiful girl I have ever seen with her green eyes and pink hair. She's really smart and a talented kunoichi. She graduated as the top kunoichi because of her grades."

"She sounds really nice," Ichigo said. "Did…did you ever tell her?"

"Every day from the minute I started liking her. I wasn't able to catch her though. She only had eyes for another." Naruto sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry," Ichigo mumbled as she felt his sadness.

"It's nothing really!" Naruto said as he plastered a grin on his face. "As long as she's happy, I'll try to be happy as well."

They both looked up and realized they had reached their destination while they were talking. Ichigo helped the boy up to his room before turning to leave.

"Hey!" Naruto called making her stop.

"Yes Uzumaki-san?"

"Thanks for saving me. I owe you one now."

"It was nothing," Ichigo replied while waving his thanks away. "I would've done it for anybody." She made to leave before Naruto once again spoke up.

"What is Aoyama-san to you?" Naruto asked with absolute seriousness in his voice.

Ichigo pondered for a bit before replying. "He's a very precious person to me. I don't know what I would do if he were to die."

Naruto gazed up with a smile, his eyes glazed as he relived a memory. "I had a friend once. I didn't know him for very long before he died, but he gave me some advice when I needed it most. It helped me shape my nindo and became the words I would live for."

"What did he say?" Ichigo asked.

"He told me that _'When you have someone who is precious to you, then you will become truly strong.'_" Ichigo stared allowing the words to burn themselves into her memory. "When you have someone you must protect, you can gain the strength to make the impossible possible." Naruto directed his gaze to bore into Ichigo's. "You have the potential to become stronger than all of us. That strength will be useless if you don't have anyone to use it for. Keep Aoyama-san close to your heart. He will provide strength for you when you have none left to give." With his speech done Naruto turned around and stumbled into his room. Ichigo was stuck, rooted in that one spot as the words he spoke continued to swirl around inside her.

'Thank you Uzumaki-san,' she thought. 'I hope that I can choose the right thing to do.' She turned around with a large smile on her face.

* * *

Kyuubi spent much of the night growling in anger, much to Kisshu's amusement.

"Something seems to have gotten you upset," Kisshu taunted. Kyuubi just growled in annoyance before pacing once more.

"I almost had that boy! The only reason I didn't was that damn cat girl!"

"Ah! Koneko-chan got you as well huh?" Kisshu grinned. "Imagine that, a fox running from a little kitty." Suddenly, he found himself unable to stand straight as Kyuubi began leaking his killing intent.

"Shut up," Kyuubi ordered coldly. "She wouldn't have been a problem to deal with. However, when her attack connected that one time, I felt like something was trying to rip me in two. Retreat was the better option rather than stay and possibly die because of my own arrogance."

"You must have felt the predesite being extracted," Kisshu commented after a second's thought.

This caused Kyuubi to look at him. "Predesite? Like one of those jellyfish things you use to mutate objects?"

"Yeah. When I extracted you from the boy, you were only a spirit. That predesite is what is giving you a body. The Mew Mew's attacks are all designed to take the predesite from a spirit." Kisshu looked up in thought. "The fact that you survived an attack from her Strawberry Check shows that you have an extremely strong will."

Kyuubi just stilled while he pondered these turn of events. "So, how many attacks do you think I can handle before I become in danger of losing my body?"

Kisshu shrugged. "Who knows? Like I said before, the strength of the predesite is dependent upon the spirit's willingness to stay in the predesite, and the strength of the spirit attached. The reason Ichigo can destroy all of our predesite's in one blow is because they all are unwilling to obey us. You, however, seem to wish to live no matter what the cost." Kisshu dropped his head in thought. "If I had to guess, I'd say you could take about twenty before you had to retreat to heal your damage. Any more would definitely waste away your predesite." Kyuubi seemed to drop into thought at this statement. "Anyways, I have something to deal with in town. See ya!"

Kyuubi sat in thought as Kisshu disappeared. 'How can I use this to my advantage? This body is holding me back some, but I need it if I am to gather my chakra. Not to mention that it helps me blend in.' Kyuubi growled a bit at the tediousness of it all. 'I'll have to collect the chakra until I can safely leave the body. Once that happens, I can take the rest as they appear and finally regain my first tail from that gaki.' Kyuubi nodded, his plans set, and drifted off to sleep for the night.

* * *

All the girls stared as Ichigo wiped the same spot over and over again. The table had been cleaned over thirty minutes ago. Many of them swore that the table could substitute as a mirror by this point.

"Um, Ichigo?" Mint spoke up. "I'm pretty sure that table's clean by now."

Ichigo just continued to wipe the table, completely lost in her own world.

"I'm a bit worried," Lettuce said. "I don't think anyone should be this much of a zombie."

"You're right. What should we do though?" Zakuro asked.

"How about getting Naruto?" Pudding suggested. "He always cheers me up!"

'That's only because he acts just as childish as you,' all three thought with a sweatdrop.

"Someone call?" Naruto said from behind Zakuro. Everyone, even Ichigo, stared at Zakuro when she leapt away in fright. "Um, hello?"

"Y-You surprised Onee-sama," Mint mumbled in awe.

"Sugoi!" Pudding said with stars in her eyes. Naruto had officially become her role model. In other words, not much had changed.

All of their attention was diverted to the door when the little bell began to chime, signaling someone had just entered.

"I'm sorry sir but we're closed now," Lettuce said as she turned with the rest of them.

"I know," a very familiar voice to all the girls said. "I saw the sign outside."

"Hi Aoyama-san," everyone said. Ichigo began to panic when that reached her ears.

'Oh man! What's he doing here!? What do I do!?' she thought as her eyes whipped around the restaurant. 'There!' she dived under the table and hid there hoping that no one could see her.

Naruto watched her out of the corner of his eye, concerned.

"I was just wondering if Ichigo was still working."

"Oh, uuuuh." All the girls turned to the table where Ichigo was hiding.

"I'm not here right now, I've already left," she whispered while telling them to be quiet with her hands. It didn't really matter to Pudding though.

"But if you're not here then who's under the table?"

There was a rather audible facepalm from Naruto as she said that. Ignoring that, he turned to the famous Masaya. "I'm sorry, you just missed her."

"Oh. And who might you be?" Masaya asked, a very small amount of jealousy in his voice.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I just moved here from somewhere far away. These kind people offered me a job."

His attempt at covering for Pudding was foiled as her voice cried out again. "OH! I got ya! Tell Aoyama-san that Ichigo said she's not here."

Once again, Naruto facepalmed while all the girls laughed nervously.

'And Sakura thought I was bad,' Naruto thought.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Masaya just stood there for a while before putting on a smile that was obviously fake. "Oh well, thanks anyway."

"Yeah bye," Lettuce said.

"See ya later," he said. He left while Naruto watched on.

"Yay! You won Ichigo! Game's over!" Pudding cheered.

Ichigo just sat, more depressed than ever before. "Yeah, game over."

Naruto walked up and knelt down beside her. "Hey, cheer up. Just remember what I told you last night."

"Yeah." How could she forget? "Thanks Naruto," she replied, still depressed but noticeably less so than before.

The rest of the girls just twitched as they realized that once again, Pudding had been right.

"Do you think we could have her buy stock for us?" Mint asked Lettuce. "With her seeming clairvoyance, she could make us rich in no time."

"Well, I'm going home now," Naruto told everybody. "See you guys later!"

"Bye!" they all waved to him as he left. He walked home with a cheerful smile on his face. Suddenly, he heard the voice of someone who he really did not need to hear at the moment.

"Now, let's see what this slithering slimeball is really made of."

'Damn it! Why did Kisshu have to appear now!' he thought as he transformed. Rushing out, he found something he couldn't really identify.

"What the hell is that?!" Naruto yelled as he watched the green thing just float there surrounded by smaller things of the same color.

"Ah, fox boy! I didn't expect to see you here!" Kisshu smiled as he saw Naruto. "Do you like it? This baby is the one who will end that miserable Aoyama's life so I can take Koneko-chan for myself." Suddenly, he felt some killing intent leak from the boy. "That might have worked once," Kisshu smirked, "but you've got nothing on Kyuubi when it comes to that weird presence."

"Stay away from my friends," Naruto ordered coldly. "If you don't stop this then I will have no qualms against killing you where you stand."

"Hmm, tempting as that sounds, I don't think I'll take you up on that offer. Now get that boy Amoebus! Make sure he won't interfere with us again."

Naruto leapt up above one of its lashing tentacles and pumped chakra into his claws. He slashed out and severed the tentacle from the main body and watched as it disappeared. He quickly brought his claws around once again and slashed the smaller ones into pieces. He dashed forwards while slashing things left and right and making his way to the giant creature at the center. Creating a shadow clone he continued fending off the smaller ones while his clone gathered his chakra into a compact sphere. Kisshu's eyes widened as he recognized it from Kyuubi's description. Naruto drove the energy sphere into the center of the creature causing it to disperse.

"Now, let's talk about why you don't threaten my friends," Naruto growled as he stalked closer to Kisshu. He was confused when all he did was smile instead of gain a fearful look. He swept his eyes around him looking for a trap. Unfortunately, he never looked behind him.

"Gauuugh!"

Naruto was grabbed from behind and pulled into the reformed creature. He glared at the smirking Kisshu as he felt his breath being taken away by the creature.

"This creature is practically unbeatable. It has the ability to regenerate cells at will." Kisshu smiled as he watched the boy disappear further. "Much as I'd love to chat, I need to prepare for tomorrow's show. I've been told to give you over to Kyuubi if I ever caught you, but I don't trust him yet." Kisshu frowned as he thought of his new ally. "He seems to have his own agenda to follow, one that includes you dead. I don't know what he's planning, but until then, you'll be safe when I find you." He smirked again. "Well, as safe as any other Mew Mew would be if I captured them."

Naruto's consciousness began to fade as he felt himself being drained by the creature that held him. 'No! Damn it, I need to get out…' he faded into unconsciousness.

* * *

Ichigo had been up all night going back and forth with reasons she should or should not go to Aoyama's kendo match. "Oh, Aoyama-kun will be so mad if I don't show up for his big match.' She flopped over to the other side of her bed. "But if I go he's gonna ask me about the Mew Mew thing!" She flipped over again. "Oh well, guess I can't go." She sat there for a few minutes before her eyes lit up with fiery determination. "I've gotta go!" She zoomed around her room grabbing clothes and other necessities.

She panted loudly as she arrived at the kendo hall. 'I made it, Aoyama-kun.'

"That ends the first round of the boy's championships. The girls championships will begin shortly."

'Oh no!' Ichigo thought in despair 'I was too late.' She turned and trudged out the hall and towards the stairs. 'It's over,' she thought as tears began to well up in her eyes. 'I just missed something that meant a lot to Aoyama-kun. How can he forgive me after I've been avoiding him like this?'

"Ichigo wait!"

Ichigo's eyes widened as she heard that familiar heavenly voice. She shut her eyes and started running, not wanting to face him.

"Ichigo what's wrong!" Masaya asked as he started to chase her.

'No! Nonononononono! I can't face him right now!' By now they had reached the halls where all the classes were.

"Did I do something wrong? ICHIGO!"

And she stopped. She didn't know why she had, it just seemed natural to her. Masaya was panting from exerting himself so much after an exhausting match.

"Now tell me…"

'Here it comes,' Ichigo thought as tears began to appear in her eyes. She started to hold back small sobs as well.

"Why do you keep running away?"

All Ichigo could do was cry. "I can't," she said while frantically shaking her head. "Just leave me."

Masaya rushed around her so that he was looking her in the eyes. "You don't have to be afraid, Ichigo," he said as he grabbed her by the shoulders causing her to look at his eyes. "I know what you're going through."

Ichigo looked at him, wishing desperately that she could tell him. "No you don't," she said as she turned her head away so those eyes couldn't affect her. "I wan-, Just, good luck in the finals!"

'Coward,' she thought as she ran.

"Hey, wait!"

She had barely made it five steps when she heard a cry of pain from Masaya. Turning around she found him wrapped up by many globs of green goo that vaguely resembled cells.

"Let go of me!"

"Aoyama-kun!" Ichigo watched as he was grabbed by something in the classroom and dragged into it. She rushed up to the door and stared at the thing that was holding Aoyama captive. She flinched when two of the green things mob rushed her, missing by a few centimeters.

"Ichigo get out of here!" Masaya yelled as he struggled to get out.

Ichigo was about to say something when her eyes landed on another figure in the creature's body.

"Uzumaki-san!?" she yelled, shocked to see the boy stuck in there. She watched as his eyes slowly opened and pinned her with a stare. He seemed weak, but the look spoke volumes where he couldn't.

'I need to transform or Aoyama-kun's gonna die. But if I do that, he'll know that I'm a Mew Mew. What am I supposed to do?!' Suddenly Naruto's words echoed through her mind. "_When you have someone who is precious to you, then you will become truly strong. Keep Aoyama-san safe._"

'That's right. I have to protect Aoyama-kun no matter what!'

"What are you waiting for! GO!"

"NO!" she yelled shocking him into silence. "I have to protect you! Mew Mew Ichigo, METAMORPHO-SIS!"

Masaya watched stunned as she transformed right in front of him. "Mew Ichigo? You're Mew Ichigo?" he asked. Suddenly, he was struck with the need to have his hands free so he could slap himself. Of course ICHIGO was Mew ICHIGO. That was the last thought that ran through his mind before he lost consciousness.

Naruto watched with a small amount of pride as his friend ignored her fears so that she could save her precious people. When this was done, if that teme didn't accept her, he'd make sure he didn't walk straight and sang soprano for the rest of his life.

"Ah, you finally made it Koneko-chan."

"What do you want Kisshu?" Ichigo asked with more than a little venom in his voice.

"I just wanted to visit you," he said holding his hand over his heart in mock pain. "After all, you must know that we are destined to be together. I'm just speeding the process along by getting rid of loser boy."

"As if I'd ever go with someone like you!" she yelled while pulling out her strawberry bell. "Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

Her attack started disintegrating the monster like it always did. She watched as Masaya and Naruto dropped to the floor. What she wasn't expecting was for Naruto to burst into movement the minute his feet hit the floor. He moved so fast even though he didn't have his transformation on at all.

"What are you doing?!" she yelled as he scooped her up and jumped away with her in one arm and Masaya in the other.

"It's not done yet," Naruto replied as he pointed her gaze to the predesite. She watched in horror as the thing reformed itself from what looked like thin air.

"How do we stop it!?" she asked in panic. She had always been able to just aim a single Strawberry Check and defeat the monster before now.

"Hah! You don't," Kisshu smirked from his position at the back of the class. "This baby is unbeatable as it will just create new cells for every single one it loses." Ichigo began to panic as that sentence hit. Naruto…he just let the meaning behind that sentence fly over his head.

"How are we supposed to beat something that can regenerate itself?!" Ichigo yelled. Finally hearing words he recognized allowed Naruto to realize why everyone else was panicking. Not that it really mattered. All that happened was his face breaking into a wide grin.

"How do we beat it? We keep attacking until not even a speck remains." He pulled out his own pendant and transformed into the Youkai Shinobi. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A dozen Narutos appeared all grinning ferally with their canines poking out from his lips. "It's time to go wild! Ready guys? Chaaarge!" All the clones leapt into battle with yells and proceded to pummel the creature into oblivion. Ichigo was about to leap into battle with her friend when she heard a voice call her name.

"Ichigo."

"Aoyama-kun! Are you okay?" she asked as she knelt beside him.

"It was you who saved me that day, by the sakura tree, wasn't it."

Ichigo could only nod.

"Come on Ichigo!" Naruto yelled as one of his clones was dispersed. "I need help to take this thing down!"

"Coming Uzumaki-san!" she yelled before turning to her crush. "Just stay here, I'll make sure you're safe."

"Wait!" Masaya yelled before she was able to jump into the fray.

"Rasengan!" the green stuff flew everywhere once more.

"What is it Aoyama-kun?" she asked, oblivious to the world around her.

"Stand still fox boy and be absorbed!"

"Not a chance in hell!" Naruto yelled as he slashed at the cyniclon with his chakra enhanced claws.

"Just come back safe. I couldn't bear it if you were killed because of me."

"I will," Ichigo nodded.

"Promise me Ichigo!" he yelled, grabbing her hand with his.

"I-I promise," she said, her heart thumping from the close contact.

"GAAAH!"

Both of the teens turned to the scream that sounded out behind them to see Naruto viciously struggling with the overgrown amoeba.

"NOW ICHIGO!" He yelled as he began to be absorbed again.

"Right!" she said as she pulled out her Strawberry Bell again. She started to glow with an unimaginable amount of power.

"What kind of chick trick is this?!" Kisshu yelled as he observed her glowing form.

"You tried to hurt Aoyama-kun! Now I'm gonna destroy this stupid thing! Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

Kisshu watched worried as all the energy surrounding her began to congregate in the bell. "Quick Amoebus! Knock that bell away!"

It was a useless attempt as a shield of the same energy that surrounded her just sprung up around her. "FULL POWER!" Kisshu could only watch in shock as the entire room was shrouded in bright rainbow colored light that completely disintegrated all of the amoebas. He watched as each one disappeared one by one until absolutely nothing else remained. Grinning widely to try and disguise the anger he felt at the moment, he turned to the girl responsible for all the trouble he had gone through.

"Well aren't you a show off," he sneered.

"I can do a lot more if you're willing to stick around!" Ichigo yelled.

Kisshu just smiled at her with an endearing look. "Much as I'd love to stick around, I have things I must be doing."

"Oh no, we insist," a voice spoke up from right beside him.

'Kuso! I forgot fox boy!' he thought as he flew away from the position he once held.

"I think not!" Naruto yelled as he slashed his claws at Kisshu's cheeks. Kisshu smirked as the boy missed by a few centimeters. The smirk was wiped off his face when a small trail of blood began to leak from a single scratch mark on his right cheek.

"Y-Y-You…" Kisshu mumbled shocked as he placed a hand on his cheek. The shock quickly became replaced with rage. "How dare you," His voice chilled everyone present to their very souls.

"That's for hurting my friends teme!" Naruto yelled, completely unaffected by the tone in Kisshu's voice.

Kisshu rubbed his cheek and smeared the blood on his hands. "This indignity will not go unpunished," he said coldly. "When we meet again, you'll repay this debt with your own blood." Kisshu disappeared after letting a single drop fall onto the floor.

"Looking forward to it," Naruto said with a grin.

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo turned around only to be grabbed in a hug by Masaya. Poor girl couldn't take it and exploded with a massive blush.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" he asked as he frantically began checking her for injuries.

Ichigo giggled finding his worrying cute. "I'm fine Aoyama-kun. I'm more worried about you."

"I'll be fine," Masaya said waving off her concerns. "I'm just glad you're still okay."

"I'll let you guys have your privacy now," Naruto spoke up, his face split in two thanks to the massive teasing grin he gave to Ichigo. Masaya looked at Naruto while Ichigo erupted in another atomic blush.

"Thank you for saving us Youkai Shinobi-san," Masaya said while bowing to show his respect.

"It was nothing," Naruto waved his thanks away. "I always help out my friends in need."

"Even so, you have my thanks."

"You really want to thank me, take care of Ichigo," Naruto replied. "She's a great girl. You're lucky you were able to catch her eye."

"Yes I was," he replied while giving Ichigo a warm grin. Ichigo was just blushing horribly from all the compliments she was receiving at once.

"I guess I'll see you later," Naruto said as he stood on the window's edge. He glanced at Ichigo and snickered. "Probably sooner than you expect, too." He leapt out the window leaving Ichigo and Masaya alone.

"So, who is he anyway?" Masaya asked as they both watched the spot where he used to be. "Would I know him too?"

"Um, he was the guy in the butler's outfit when you came to work looking for me."

Masaya's eyes lit up in recognition before becoming serious again. "So, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Masaya asked gently.

Ichigo's face dropped as she remembered why she didn't tell him before. "I-I didn't want you to think I was a freak. I was afraid that if you knew…" her voice started choking. "You'd leave me," she whispered.

"Hey," Masaya said, gripping her shoulder reassuringly. "No need for tears," he said as he gently wiped them off. "I don't care about this," he said as he stroked her tail, "or these," he said while stroking her ears, "all I care about is what's in here." He gently put his hand where her heart was.

Ichigo began crying tears of joy and flung herself into Masaya's arms. Masaya just sat there stroking her back and soothing her. "Y-You don't know h-how happy I-I am to hear that," she said through her tears. Masaya just continued to hug her as she let out all the tears she had held back. She finally stopped and gave him a huge smile.

"And don't worry, your secret's safe with me," Masaya said.

"Thanks," she said.

"Now close your eyes," Masaya said.

'I-Is he gonna k-kiss me!?' Ichigo thought as she closed her eyes and blushed. Her eyes opened when she felt something tied around her neck. It was a bell.

"Wh-What's this?" she asked as she fingered the bell.

"Something to remember me by," Masaya said. "I don't want to lose you again. As long as you have that bell, I'll be able to find you if I listen for it." Ichigo fingered the gift with a smile. "Now come on. I have a kendo match to finish."

Naruto snickered as he shut the camcorder and ran back down the wall. He knew investing in this portable blackmail holder would pay off. 'Now to go play it for the rest of the girls at the café.'

* * *

"Hey girls!" Naruto said causing them all to look at him.

"Yes Uzumaki-san?" Lettuce asked.

"Take a short break all of you. I have something to show you."

All of the girls looked at each other and shrugged before following the boy into the television room below the café.

"What are you planning?" Zakuro asked as she pulled up to Naruto. She had spotted the mischievous grin he sported before he had turned away.

"Oh, just something I'm sure all of you will enjoy," he told her as the grin emerged once more. She eyed him warily before deciding she would keep her guard up. They all walked in and were surprised to see Ryou and Keiichiro already seated around a large television.

"Why are you two here?" Mint asked.

Ryou shrugged. "Blondie dragged us in here saying that it was important."

"For the last time, my name is UZMAKI NARUTO! Get it right boss-teme!"

"Whatever you say blondie," Ryou smirked.

Naruto just growled before dropping it. He started grinning maniacally as he pulled out a video camera, causing many of the people present to look at him in confusion. They watched as he hooked up the recorder to the tv and placed a pair of glowing blue fingers on the cords and recorder, causing them to glow blue.

"What did you just do?" Pudding asked for the rest of the girls.

"Just making sure these can't be tampered with," he replied with a grin before turning the camera on.

"Hello Tokyo Mew Mew!" a little chibi Naruto said as he appeared on screen. "If you're watching this recording, it means that Ichigo confessed to Masaya recently!"

Ichigo exploded into a blush while the others all turned to her with varying degrees of amusement. She began to get a horrible feeling as to where this was going.

"Since I know all of you wanted to see this, I recorded the entire thing for your enjoyment! Please enjoy our feature presentation!" Chibi Naruto disappeared only to be replaced with the classroom scene from earlier today.

"_So why didn't you tell me earlier?" Masaya asked gently._

_Ichigo's face dropped as she remembered why she didn't tell him before. "I-I didn't want you to think I was a freak. I was afraid that if you knew…" her voice started choking. "You'd leave me," she whispered._

Ichigo leapt for the camera and tried to pull out the plugs. It was no use. The cords were stuck to the tv thanks to the chakra running through them. She was forced to endure as the entire scene played out for all her friends to see. After it ended that damnable chibi Naruto appeared again. "And that's all folks! Hope you enjoyed the most kawaii confession in history! Oh, and Ichigo?" chibi said gaining her attention. The chibi thing gave her a massive grin. "Boss says to tell you that he's not here now!" She glared at the screen, remembering when Pudding had done something similar. With that the chibi disappeared in a puff of smoke before the screen went blank. She slowly turned around to see everybody's reactions. Keiichiro had his serene smile on his face, showing that he was happy for her. Ryou was smirking at her, as if to say it was about time. Pudding looked like…well, Pudding. Lettuce was giving her that gentle smile of hers, and Zakuro had her arms crossed with a ghost of a smile on her face. However, the look on Mint's face made her pale visibly.

"'_I don't care about this, or these, all I care about is what's in here.'_" Mint said miming out what Masaya had done. "And when he made you close your eyes! Your face turned sooooooo red. That was so kawaii!"

Ichigo's head just dropped in embarrassment. 'When I find Uzumak-baka, he's dead,' she vowed silently. Suddenly, she spotted his grinning face from the doorway. "UZUMAKI-BAKA!" Everyone laughed as she chased a laughing Naruto all over the café.

* * *

Kisshu was pacing around the ship with a murderous glare on his face. The cause of this ire? One spiky-headed blond fox boy. Kyuubi just watched as his partner paced back and forth with some amusement.

"I take it things didn't go well," Kyuubi stated with a sarcastic tone. Kisshu just glared at him with his yellow slitted eyes.

"That damn blond had the gall to scratch my face. He's gonna pay when I see him next."

Kyuubi laughed long and hard after he heard that statement. "All this over a little flesh wound? That's pathetic!"

Kisshu glared at the laughing man beside him. "Shut your mouth! No one has ever been able to lay a finger on me. The fact that a boy was able to scratch me at all is degrading!" Kyuubi just watched in silent amusement as the cyniclon continued his relentless pacing. "This isn't over," Kisshu swore. "The next time we meet he will pay back his debt in full."

The demon just watched as the alien stalked to his quarters. 'Perhaps I can use this to my advantage…' he mused. His thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of two people. Reacting on reflex, he blurred from sight before placing a claw on each one of their throats.

"Who are you?" he demanded as he pushed his claws in further, drawing blood.

"You must be that Kyuubi person that Deep Blue-sama spoke of. It seems his praise was not unearned," the taller one said. Kyuubi pushed his claws in further.

"You still haven't answered my question," he growled as the smaller one began to quiver from the killing intent Kyuubi was releasing.

"Taruto? Pai? What are you doing here?" Kisshu asked as he strolled in. Upon seeing that Kisshu knew them, Kyuubi pulled his claws away watching with humor as the younger one seemed to melt from the relief.

"Deep Blue-sama has been disappointed with your progress. He sent us over to take your place."

Kisshu seemed shocked. "What?"

"From now on, we'll handle the conquering of Earth."

* * *

**Translations**

**Sugoi-cool  
**

**Teme-bastard  
**

**Kawaii-cute  
**

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu-I shouldn't have to tell you but it's shadow clone jutsu  
**

**Please read and review! All your reviews so far give me a fluttery feeling and the will to keep writing! ...that sounded really gay.  
**


	5. Chapter 4: The Red Dawn Stirs

**I LIVE! READ THIS BEFORE YOU READ WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN!**

**All joking aside this is not a complete chapter. Although you're probably thinking that it's ludicrous that I haven't finished a new chapter, there is a perfectly good reason. This is the beginning of the next chapter and basically self-made blackmail to make me write. My laptop gave up the ghost and after that my inspiration kinda fled. So I give to you the beginning of the next chapter and I will update it with the rest of the chapter when it is written. Just drop a pm instead of a review so that the review will be for the FULL chapter.**

**Enjoy. :)**

Fire Country; hidden location

Astral figures with black cloaks and red clouds gatered around the one physical member of the organization.

"Zetsu, report," a voice commanded.

The strange flytrap ninja began to speak. "The Nine-tails and the last Uchiha fought a massive battle at the Valley of the End. **The Nine-tails and the Uchiha brat both used their strongest jutsus in an attempt to overpower the other.** The Nine-tails used his chakra to eradicate the seal that Orochimaru placed on the Uchiha, but it almost cost him his life."

"Seems your brother is getting stronger, eh Itachi?"

Itachi's projection just glared at Kisame's before turning to Zetsu. "You said almost, what did you mean?"

"**The brat didn't die, rather he just disappeared in a monstrous flash of youkai.** We have no idea where he could be as we cannot sense him in the elemental nations."

"This is not profitable. Without the Nine-tails, our plans are ruined."

"! #$ing Jinchuuriki. They are way too ! #$ing annoying to catch without killing them!"

"Enough! This is just a minor set-back. The Kyuubi needed to be sealed last either way. This does not affect our mission. I will search for a way to locate the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. In the meantime, the rest of you will capture your predetermined targets. Itachi and Kisame will capture the Four-tails while i look into this. For now, we proceed as planned."

All the projections dispersed and Zetsu simply sunk underground leaving no trace anyone was ever there.

Unknown location

"Well Itachi, seems like we have to thank your brother for this one. Maybe you should have finished him off when you had the chance."

Itachi just stared ahead into the rain that fell on this dreary day. "Let's go Kisame. The sooner we complete our objective, the sooner we can find the Nine-tails."

Red Shuriken glowed through the darkness releasing tears that were disguised by the rain.


End file.
